


Play On

by Winnywriter



Series: Great Falls 'Verse [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2013-06-02
Packaged: 2017-12-13 18:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/827499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winnywriter/pseuds/Winnywriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Balthazar and Castiel find that music brings them together in some rather surprising ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Play On

They'd been living in their new house for almost six months to the day when Balthazar started to sing. His low, gravelly voice drew Castiel's attention as he walked by the bathroom late on Sunday morning, steam spilling out of the door across his path.

 

He drew one eyebrow up and leaned a bit closer, letting out a chuckle as he realized that yes, it was indeed Balthazar who was crooning away on the other side of the door, and he rested against the wall, smiling and humming along with Madonna's _Like a Virgin._

 

Eventually, as September bled into October, Balthazar's impromptu performances made their way out of the shower and into the rest of the house. He murmured Elvis Presley's _Love Me Tender_ as he did the dishes, belted Train's _Save Me, San Francisco_ as he loaded groceries into the fridge, and whistled Beethoven's _F_ _ü_ _r Elise_ as he put on his coat and headed out the door on Monday morning.

 

The more Castiel heard of that husky baritone voice, the more he grew to love it. Balthazar's songs – be they sonatas or show tunes or top 20 hits – became a staple of their daily life, almost as familiar as the house itself. Balthazar's voice was a soothing, calming presence, putting Castiel at ease even when he was stressed or sleep-deprived or just suffering from a good, old-fashioned bad mood.

 

On one chilly Thursday night, Castiel lay awake with a headache that was putting up a good, strong fight against the ibuprofen he'd taken before going to bed. He let out an aggravated huff, not daring to look over at the clock which he was sure read some ungodly hour, and as he did, a hand rested on his arm.

 

“Can't sleep, love?” Balthazar asked, and Castiel tried valiantly to bury himself in the cool embrace of his pillow.

 

“I have a headache...” he mumbled. “Just waiting for the pills to kick in.” He turned, glancing over at Balthazar with a guilty frown. “Am I keeping you up?”

 

Balthazar shook his head as he kissed Castiel on the shoulder, hand skimming down his back. “Not at all.” Castiel sighed again and closed his eyes, hoping that doing so would lessen the throbbing between his temples as he waited for the medicine to do its job and let him sleep. But as he did so, he heard something: a soft, gentle melody, almost like a lullaby. Balthazar rubbed his back, humming to him as if he were trying to soothe an infant to sleep, and Castiel's muscles began to relax. Balthazar's voice faded away, along with the pain, and he finally managed to sleep.

 

* * *

 

The two of them were having breakfast on a Saturday morning in November when Castiel finally cocked his head to one side and asked, “What's gotten into you lately?”

 

Balthazar chewed a forkful of scrambled eggs, eyebrows raised curiously. “What do you mean?” he asked as he swallowed. Castiel shrugged and grabbed a strawberry, gingerly bringing it to his lips.

 

“The singing,” he said before biting in.

 

“Singing?”

 

“You started singing in the shower a while ago. You've never done that before. And since then, you've been singing, well, everywhere. In the kitchen, in the living room, in the bedroom...”

 

“Does it bother you?” Balthazar chuckled.

 

“No! But I'm just curious, I guess. What brought on this sudden love of music?”

 

“I've always loved music, Cassie.”

 

“But I don't think I've heard you sing this much since...You know, I don't think I've ever heard you sing this much.”

 

Balthazar smiled around his fork, looking endlessly amused. “You've heard me sing before, Cassie. You must've.”

 

“I've just been hearing a lot more than I'm used to.” Castiel smiled around his strawberry. “Not that I mind, of course. Well, not usually...”

 

“Not usually?”

 

“Well, when you start humming _Ode to Joy_ while we're having sex, it's just the tiniest bit distracting.”

 

Balthazar laughed to himself at that, and Castiel tried to glare, but he found it hard to do so. “Suppose I'm just in a good mood,” Balthazar offered. “I have a job I enjoy, a roof over my head, and a gorgeous man waiting for me when I get home. What more could I want?”

 

Castiel smirked at him. “Gorgeous, hm?”

 

“Would you prefer handsome? Foxy?” Castiel chuckled. “Pulchritudinous?”

 

“ _Pulchritudinous?_ ” Castiel repeated, eyebrow arching.

 

“My, my, Cassie,” Balthazar crooned. “Did I just stumble across a word you don't know?”

 

Castiel stared down at his plate. “No...” He could practically _hear_ Balthazar grin.

 

“Foxy, then,” Balthazar said, downing the last of his grapefruit juice before taking his plate to the sink. He hummed as he washed the dishes, to the tune of _I Dreamed a Dream._

 

* * *

 

Castiel stopped outside Balthazar's classroom door just as the bell rang, and he lingered in the hallway as a group of thirty or so students filed out past him. “N'oubliez pas d'étudier les chapitres quatre et cinq pour un examen jeudi,” Balthazar called as they left, and Castiel smiled, leaning against the door frame. Two or three students lingered by Balthazar's desk, and from what Castiel could tell, they were still speaking in French as they asked him questions.

 

He didn't go in until they had left, and Balthazar had already sat back down at his desk by then. Castiel stopped beside him and cleared his throat, and Balthazar grinned as he looked up. “You look like you're working them hard,” Castiel said to him, and Balthazar arched one eyebrow.

 

“Nous parlons français dans cette salle, Castiel,” he informed him with a subdued smirk.

 

“Mon français est...un peu...” He sighed. “...rusty.”

 

“Nonexistent, you mean,” Balthazar chided playfully.

 

“I'm working on it.” Balthazar stood, patting Castiel on the chest affectionately and kissing him on the cheek.

 

“What are you doing here, love?” he asked. “Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but it's not like you to come visit me at work.” He smirked. “Or were you hoping to indulge in some kind of hot-for-teacher fantasy? Because as much as I would absolutely _love_ to go along with that, I'd very much like to keep my job.”

 

Castiel whacked him on the arm. “Stop it,” he said, trying valiantly not to smile. “I actually came because I want to show you something. When's your next class?”

 

“Lucky for you, I have this period free. I was going to spend it grading my French III class' papers, but I figure that whatever you've got in mind would be much more interesting than marking up missing accent marks in red pen.”

 

“I certainly hope so,” Castiel said with a smile, and he grabbed Balthazar's sleeve and led him down the hall.

 

* * *

 

The choir room was empty and dark, and Castiel didn't bother turning the light on as he pulled Balthazar inside and closed the door behind him. He could practically feel Balthazar's smirk in the breath on the back of his neck, but he didn't turn just yet; he tugged him toward the piano on the far side of the room, guided only by the sparse light filtering in from the hallway through the frosted glass window on the door. He sat him down on the bench, settled beside him and whispered, “Close your eyes.”

 

Balthazar sighed as he did, and Castiel slowly lifted the cover, letting his fingers ghost over the keys for a moment before he began to play. Balthazar let out a surprised breath as the soft, lilting melody rose up around them, and Castiel found himself smiling. He glanced up only momentarily to be sure that Balthazar's eyes were still closed; they were, but he was positively beaming as Castiel continued the song.

 

He lost himself in the melody, his fingers moving of their own accord, remembering notes and chords that he thought he'd forgotten long before. By the time he let the music fade and rested his hands on the keys, glancing up at the man sitting beside him, Balthazar had opened his eyes and was staring at him with wonder in his gaze.

 

“I told you to keep them closed,” Castiel said.

 

“I didn't know you still played,” Balthazar breathed. “I mean, I know you did in high school, but I didn't know you still...”

 

“I haven't in a long time. Almost thought I would have forgotten how.”

 

Balthazar reached out, cupping Castiel's jaw in his palm and smiling warmly as he leaned down to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Not at all, Cassie,” he said. “What was it that you played?”

 

Castiel ran a finger across the keys, glancing down at them sheepishly. “I wrote it," he said. "Back in college. I could never figure out how it ended.”

 

“Cas,” Balthazar chuckled, leaning against him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders as he rested his head against Castiel's shoulder. “A pianist and a songwriter? What else have you been hiding from me?”

 

“I'm not much of either.”

 

“Don't you dare sell yourself short, now. You should play for me more often.”

 

“We don't have a piano.”

 

“Maybe we can change that one day. And until then, we could always sneak in here. It's barely ever used during the school day. You could whisk me away between class sessions and serenade me.” Balthazar grinned at him, fingers resting atop Castiel's on the keys, and Castiel let out a contented breath.

 

“Peut-être,” he said, and Balthazar's frame rattled with laughter.

 

* * *

 

They slid into bed together that night, pressing insistent kisses to each other's lips, and Balthazar smiled as he trailed his mouth down over Castiel's collar bone and and settled on top of him between his legs. Castiel sighed, ran his hands down across Balthazar's spine, and tilted his head back against the pillow, baring his neck for Balthazar to cover in gentle kisses and grazes of teeth. His eyes snapped open just as Balthazar tugged his shirt up over his head, and Castiel sat upright, pushing him back as he said, “I forgot something.”

 

“What's that?” Balthazar asked, blinking to clear his head. Castiel rested his hand against Balthazar's chest, patting him lightly and smiling before getting up off the bed and going over to his laptop on the bureau by the window. “What are you doing?”

 

Castiel merely smirked back at him as he scrolled through his music collection. “One second,” he assured him. He clicked on the title and hopped back into bed, slotting his body against Balthazar's once again and kissing him deeply.

 

When the music started to play, Balthazar laughed out loud. “Really?” he chuckled, voice tinged with both disbelief and unending amusement. Castiel just grinned at him, knowingly, pressed him back onto the bed, and kissed him with everything he had as _Ode to Joy_ played on.


End file.
